Small tidbits and Sparks of wisdom

What the Jewish Festivals Teach
and What Resolution They Aim to Evoke
— Samson Raphael Hirsch
Pesach
Teachings
General:
God rules over both Nature and the history of nations, separating day from night, life from death. In particular, the One God is Israel’s Creator and Saviour—Israel is God’s property, God’s servant.
Resolution:
To remain loyal as a rock to the One God in the destiny and life to which He determined Israel as a nation and you personally as a son of Israel.
This leads to אהבה, love of God.
Shavuoth
Teachings
General:
God summons everything in Nature and humanity to its task, educates mankind to its mission, aims at having human action as the servant of His will and reveals His will for that purpose.
In particular:
The One God is Israel’s Lawgiver. Israel’s only task: To bear and fulfil this Divine law and thus to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Torah:
Comes from God, is Israel’s ground of existence.
Resolution:
To cling to this Torah—for the fulfilment of which God caused you to be born in the House of Israel—more than to your very life.
This leads to יראה, fear of God.
Sukkoth
Teachings
General:
God is the Sustainer of Nature and mankind, Master and Distributor of all means of life.
In particular:
Israel was not only created by Him but also continues to exist through Him. Only from Him comes preservation in the happy as well as in the dark hours of life.
Resolution:
To look up to God in times of success, as the Source of success, and in need as the Sustainer in need; to preserve a modest sobriety in the face of good fortune, courage and confidence in the face of misfortune.
This leads to אמונה, trust in God.
Shemini Atzereth
Teachings
General:
God rejuvenates again and again the forces of development.
In particular:
He keeps His spirit eternally alive in Israel; the Torah is protected in Israel by God, and men of spirit are aroused within Israel by God.
Resolution:
To drink and to give to drink joyfully from the fountain of the Torah even if thousands scorn it;
to cultivate joyfully the light of the Torah, even if thousands announce its extinction;
to know that God, from Whom the fountain wells forth, will cause it to flow on pure, that He Who kindled the light will never allow it to become extinguished.
This leads to שמחה, joy in God.